Garment button



Aprifl 24, 1951 E. w. BIEGAJSKI GARMENT BUTTON Filed Oct. 15, 1945 Patented Apr. 24, 1951 GARMENT BUT-TON Ernest W. Biegajski, Bufialo, N. Y.; Margaret E. Biegajski administratrix of 7 said Ernest W.

Biegajski, deceased Application October 15, 1945, Serial No. 622,312

10 Claims. 1

This invention relates to buttons, particularly to those worn on garments.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved garment button which may be easily and quickly attached to and detached from a fabric in a simple manner, without the use of a needle and thread, and without injury to the fabric; which may be strongly and securely attached to a garment and danger of the button becoming unintentionally released or detached from the fabric will be avoided; with which danger of tearing of the fabric in use will be reduced to a minimum; which will provide an unbroken outside face for the button that may carry any desired ornamentation; and which will be of normal size and relatively simple, practical and inexpensive.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of some embodiments of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a rear face elevation of a. button constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse, sectional elevation of the same, the section being taken approximately along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is another transverse, sectional elevation of the same, the section being taken approximately along the line 33 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a rear face elevation of another button also constructed in accordance with the invention, and illustrating another embodiment thereof; 7

Fig. 5 is a transverse, sectional elevation of the same, the section being taken approximately along the line 55 of Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figs. 6 and 7 are elevations of multi-pronged I which may be of any suitable material, having on its rear face a projecting boss 2 which is provided with a transverse central groove 3, and with a recess 3 at one side of the groove 3 and spaced therefrom by an intervening wall 5. The recess 4 opens outwardly through the rear face of the button, that is, through the exposed, rear face of the boss, and is approximately closed on its outside periphery by a wall 6 which forms part of the periphery of the boss. The boss on one side of the groove 3 is provided with a pair of generally parallel passages l, and at the other side of that groove with passages 8 which extend from the recess through the wall 5 into the groove 3, and are aligned with passages l at the opposite side of the groove from the recess. Passages l extend into the boss from groove 3 for a substantial distance.

A plurality of passages may be used, and preferably, as illustrated, two of such passages are employed. An arm of a fastening member 9 extends along each of these passages, so as to cross the groove 3 in spaced relation to the bottom of the groove, and is anchored in the boss at both sides of the groove. A strip of fabric [0 (Fig. 2) is disposed against the face of the boss with a local zone ll thereof doubled and inserted into the groove 3 where it is pierced by the arms of the fastening member 9. The member 9 thus definitely anchors the button to the fabric. I prefer to employ a U-shaped fastening member with the prongs or arms spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacing between the passages and ii, and of a size to enter and pass freelyv along those passages. The cross part of the outer end of the fastening member 9 rests against the abutment provided by the inside surface 60 of the outer peripheral wall 6 of the fastening members that may be employed with recess 4, so that the fastening. member is normally held by this engagement against unintentional removal from the passages l and 8.

A substantial length or zone of each arm of the fastening member lies within the recess 4, and this makes it possible to spring the outer end of the fastening member over the walls 6 by flexing of the arms in the recess 4, so that the fastening member may be withdrawn from the passages l and 8 to release the fabric. To facilitate the insertion and removal of the fastening member Q, the wall 8 is preferably provided with a notch l2 in alignment with :each passage i and 8 and through which the arms of the member 9 may pass when the fastening member is being inserted or removed. Thus the fastening member will be flexed only while its outer 3 end is passing the wall 3, that is, the portion thereof between the notches I2.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the button is formed of a disk I3 having in its central area a corrugation or boss I4, with a re-entrant portion in its interior to provide a central groove IE into which a local zone of a fabric Ill may be disposed for attachment to the button. The re-entrant part I5 preferably extends beyond the plane of the body of the disk, as shown in Fig. 5, soas to provide a relatively deep groove I6 without a relatively high boss I4. The walls IEa and I6bforming the opposite sides of the groove It are provided with aligned apertures II, and since in this illustration a U-shaped fastening member I8 is employed, there will be two sets of aligned apertures I'i spaced apart along the groove 2. distance equal to the space between the arms of the fastening member I8.

One outer wall of the boss is also provided with apertures i9 aligned with the apertures I7, so that the prongs of the fastening member I8 may be inserted first through the apertures I9 and then through the apertures 51, and cross the groove in spaced relation to the bottom of the groove, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The portions of the prongs extending across the groove, of course, will pierce the fabric I-U (Figure 5), which is within the groove, and thus anchor the disk firmly to the fabric. The fastening member I8 is held against accidental or unintentional removal from the boss Hi? by a small hump 28, which is provided on the rear face of the disk in the path of the outer end or cross part of the member I8.

When one desires to remove the member I8, its outer end is sprung rearward-1y in a direction away from the disk until it can pass the hump '28-, and then it can be slid endwise out of the boss to release the fabric It). The hump has a length less than the distance between the arms of the member I'B so that the flexing of the member I2 is required only while the outer end of the member is passing the hump. In order to conceal the member I8 from view as much as possible, another hump 2! is formed similarly to the hump 26, so as to project from the rear face of the disk I3- circularly about the boss I 5, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. r

This hump 2!, at its ends Zia, is spaced from the hump 2!) so as to provide notche 22 aligned with the arms of the member I8, through which the arms or prongs of the member I8 may move when the member is being inserted or removed from the boss. The humps 20 and 2| together form an approximately continuous peripheral wall which conceals somewhat from edg-ewise view, the fastening member I8 and also in effect forms a recess 23 at one side of and spaced from the groove I6 in which the fastening member I8 is received. Preferably a cover plate or shell 24, see Fig. 5, is disposed across the outer face of the disk I3 so as to conceal disk I3, and the periphery of the shell it is flanged over the peripheral edge of the disk I3 as at 25, which serves to unite the shell 24 to the disk I3 and constitute therewith a hollow button body.

The shell 24' may be outwardly convex. The boss I8 spaces the rear face of the disk I3 from the fabric It, so as to provide a space in which another fabric layer 26 may be disposed when a button hole 27 in the fabric as is passed over the button, as shown in Fig. 5.

In Figs. 6 and 7 are illustrated three-pronged fastening members 28 and 29 which may be substituted for the fastening members 9 and I8 oi Figs. 1 to 5, when there are three parallel passages in the boss. In Fig. 6 the multi-pronged fastening member 28 is formed by stamping the same from sheet material, whereas in Fig. 7, the member 29 is formed of a U-shaped member or wire with a straight stretch 30 secured to the cross part by welding or other means.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 the construction of the button is similar to that shown in Fig. 1 except that the body 3I of the button is provided alon its periphery with a rearwardly extending flange 32, so that when the U shaped fastening member 33 is moved over the hump 6b in the wall 5a and outwardly into the dash line position, it releases any fabric in slot or groove 34, but engages against the flange 32 before it passes out of the wall 35 that forms one side of the slot 34. The fastening member 33 remains attached to the button in a position for movement across the slot 34 to grip the fabric, and there is no danger of the fastening member being lost as it might be if completely removed from the button. In this arrangement the fastening member remains attached to the button body at all times and is merely shifted back and forth across the slot 34 in which the fabric is disposed, so as to grip or release the fabric. It is releasably held in fabric fastening position by the hump in the wall 6a, as explained in connection with the construction of Figs. 1 to 3.

The outer or head end of the fastening mem- -er abuts against the inside face of the outside wall of the recess in the boss, so that the fastening member is normally held against accidental removal, yet can be easily and simply removed whenever desired. Thus such buttons may be easily removed from a coat when the coat is to be sent to the cleaners, and can be easily reapplied after the cleaning operation.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the button may be formed of molded plastic, or of metal such as a die casting, or it may be made by forging a disk into the desired shape. The passages for the fastening member may be drilled or formed in any suitable manner. The notches I2 and 22 make it possible to drill the passages in a simple manner. In Figs. 4 and 5 the disk I3 may be molded or suitable material, or it may be made of sheet metal and the corrugations and humps drawn therein. The shell 2- 5 may also be made of any suitable material, either of metal or of plastic which can be worked, soas to turn the flange 25 over and around the periphery of the disk I3.

' It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements'of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention, as expressed in the annended claims.

I claim:

l. A garment button comprising a body having a boss projecting from one face thereof, said boss having a central groove therein into which fabric may be disposed for attachment to the button and also being recessed in the exposed face of said boss at one side of and spaced from said groove, said base having a pair of generally parallel passages arranged side by side, each extending from said recess to and beyond said groove into the boss at the opposite side of the groove from said recess, in a direction crosswise of that central axi ofv the button which extends from face to face of the button, and a U-shaped fastening member having its arms spaced apart,

by a distance equal to the spacing between said passages and insertable into and along said passages from said recess across said groove and piercing any fabric in said groove, the cross part of said U of the fastening member normally engaging against the inside surface of the outer peripheral wall of said recess when the member is fully inserted so as to extend across said groove,

said outer peripheral wall of the recess having.

notches therein aligned with said passages so that after the cross part of the U of the member is sprung over the portion of the wall of the recess between said notches, by flexing of the arms within the recess, said member may be removed so as to release the fabric from said groove.

2. A garment button comprising a body having a groove centrally of its rear face into which fabric may be disposed for attachment to the button and also having in said rear face, at one side of and spaced from said groove, a recess opening through the rear face, said body having a plurality of generally parallel passages extending from said recess through the portion of th body between the recess and groove and into the body at the opposite side of the groove from the recess, and spaced apart in a direction lengthwise of the groove, the axes of said passage lying in a plane which is generally normal to that axis of the button which extends from face to face, and a multi-armed fastening member having its arms spaced apart by intervals corresponding to the spacing between said passages and connected at their outer ends by a cross part, and each arm of a size to enter and pass along one of said passages and across the groove to pierce and anchor to the button any fabric in said groove, said cross part being received in said recess and held against removal by engagement with the inner surface of the outer side wall of the recess, but past which said cross part may be sprung by flexing of the portion of the prongs within said recess, when removal of the fastening member is desired.

3. A gar-ment button comprising a body having a groove centrally of its rear face into which fabric may be disposed for attachment to the button and also having in said rear face, at one side of and spaced from said groove, a recess opening through the rear face, said body having a plurality of generally parallel passages extending from said recess through the portion of the body between the recess and groove and into the body at the opposite side of the groove from the recess, and spaced apart in a direction lengthwise of the groove, the axes of said passages lying in a plane which is generally normal to that axis of the button which extends from face to face, and a multi-armed fastening member having its arms spaced apart by intervals corresponding to the spacing between said passages and connected at their outer ends by a cross part, and each arm of a size to enter and pass along one of said passages and across the groove to pierce and anchor to the button any fabric in said groove, said cross part being received in said recess and held against removal by engagement with the inner surface of the outer side wall of the recess, but past which said cross part may be sprung by flexing of the portions of the prongs within said recess, when removal of the fastening member is desired, said outer recess wall having notches aligned with said passages and through which the arms of said member may slide while the member is being inserted or removed.

4. A garment button comprising a disk having its central area drawn normal to its face to provide a boss on its rear face, with a groove therein into which fabric may be disposed for attachment to the button and with an abutment in spaced relation with respect to said groove, the walls defining said groove and at least one of the walls forming one side of the boss having a plurality of aligned apertures to form parallel passages which extend through the boss and across said groove in spaced relation to the bottom of the groove, a;

U-shaped fastening member having arms which pas through said aligned apertures so as to pierce any fabric in said groove and anchor it to said boss, the outer ends of said arms being connected by a cross part which is eng-ageable with said abutment to prevent accidental withdrawal of said arms from said passages but past which said cross part may be sprung by flexing the outer end of said fastening member, and a shell extending across the face of said disk opposite from the boss and flanged around the periphery of said disk so as to be united thereto.

5. A garment button comprising a disk having its central area drawn normal to its face to provide a boss on its rear face, with a groove therein into which fabric may be disposed for attachmentto the button, the walls defining said groove and at least one of the walls forming one side of the boss having aligned apertures to form parallel,

passages which extend through the boss and across said groove in spaced relation to the bottom of the groove, and a U-shaped fastening member having arms which pass through said aligned apertures so as to pierce any fabric in said groove and anchor it to said boss, the outer ends of said arms being connected by a cross part, said disk also having a hump formed on its rear face against which said cross part may abut to prevent unintentional removal of the member, but past which said. cross part may be sprung when removal and insertion of the member is desired;

6. A garment button comprising a body having a boss projecting from its rear face with a cen-- tral groove in the exposed face of said boss into which fabric may be disposed for attachment tothe button, said body having an outside wall,

which defines a recess in said exposed rear face of said boss at one side of said groove, and also having parallel passages from said recess into and beyond said groove in a direction generally parallel to said rear face, and a U-shaped fastening,

ber within said recess, when removal of said mem- I ber is desired, said outside wall of said recess being approximately continuous so a to conceal the fastening member somewhat from view at the edge of the body of the button.

'7. A garment button comprising a body having in its rear face a central groove into which a local zone of fabric may be disposed for attachment to the button, a recess at one side of said groove and separated therefrom by a wall, said body having a passage in said wall from said recess into said groove and beyond said groove into the body at the opposite side of the groove, said passage being spaced away from the bottom of said groove and generally crosswise of the central.

axis of the button that extends in a direction from face to face of the button body, and a fas tening member disposed in and movable along said passage from said recess between one position across said groove in which it pierces. and holds any fabric in said groove, and another position in which it iswithdrawn from the groove to release any fabric therein but remains in said passage in said wall, said body having on its rear facean abutment in the path of movement of said member which normally limits its movement beyond said another position when moving out ofsaid groove.

8. A garment button comprising a body having inits rear face a central groove into which a local zone of fabric: may be disposed for attachment to the button, a recess at one side of said groove and separated therefrom by a wall, said body havinga passage in said wall from said recess into said groove and beyond said groove into the body at the opposite side of the groove, said passage being spaced away from the bottom of said groove and generally crosswise of the central axi of the button that extends in a direction from face to face of the button body, and a fastening member disposed in and movable along said passage between one position across said groove in which it pierces and holds any fabric in said groove, and another position in which it is withdrawn from the groove to release any fabric therein but remains in said passage in said wall, said body having on its rear face a flange extending approximately about said axis and in the path of movementof said member for normally limiting movement of said member beyond its said another position when moving out of said groove.

9. A garment button comprising a body havin in its rear face a central groove into which a local zone of fabric may be disposed for attachment to the button, a recess at one side of said groove and separated therefrom by a wall, said body having a passage in said wall from said recess into said groove and beyond said groove into the body at the opposite side of the groove, said passage beingspaced away from the bottom of said groove and generally crosswise of the central axis of the button that extends in a direction from face to face of the button body, and a fastening member disposed in and movable alon said passage between one position across said groove in which it pierce and holds any fabric in said groove, and another position in which it is withdrawn from the groove to release any fabric therein. but remains in said passage in said wall, said-body having on its rear face an abutment in the path of movement of said member which normally limits its movement beyond said another'position when moving out of said groove, and also another abutment engaged by the outer end of said member for normally holdingsaid member from movement out of said one position but past which the. outer end. of said member may be sprung when. one desiresto. move said member between said positions. a

10.. A garment button comprising a body having in its. rear face a central groove into which a,

local Zone of fabric may be disposed for attach-t ment to the button, a recess at one side of said groove and separated therefrom by av wall, said body having a passage in said; wall from said recess into said groove and beyond said groove into the body at. the opposite side of the groove, said passage being spaced away from the bottom of said groove and generally crosswise of. the central axis of the button that extendsv in a. direction from face to face of the.- button body, and a fastening member disposed in and. movable along said passage. betweenv one position across said groovein which it. pierces and holds any fabric in said: groove, and another position in which it is withdrawn from the groove to release any fabrictherewhich the outer end of said member may be:

sprung: when one desires to move. said member between said positions.

ERNEST W. BIEGAJSKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,065,082 Saunders June 17,1913 1,633,725 Day June 28, 1927- l-,7.l5 ,258 Tonn May- 28, 1929: 1,756,952 Miller May 6, 1930 2,322,698 Mitchel June 22-, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 264,433 Germany Sept. 24, 1913 486,569 Germany Nov. 21, I929 

